ACCESS: ZION AREA

News Release
Cedar City Field Office, Utah

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Contact: Christian Venhuizen, (435) 994-9353

March 29, 2017

Maintenance of Kanarraville water system closes portion of Spring Creek Canyon WSA


KANARRAVILLE, Utah – Maintenance to the town of Kanarraville’s water system will close the hiking trail to Kanarraville Falls through the Bureau of Land Management’s (BLM) Spring Creek Canyon Wilderness Study Area (WSA) to ensure public safety from April 3-6.

The town of Kanarraville maintains a right-of-way for the pipeline that supplies drinking water to the community.

Erosion from weather and from hikers exposed the pipeline along the trail and falling rocks pose a hazard to other sections of the pipeline. The town agreed to close the trail that begins on property maintained by Kanarraville and the Iron County Sheriff’s Office will enforce the closure.

Work on the pipeline will require some equipment to move through the creek in the WSA. Staff from the BLM’s Cedar City Field Office will monitor the work to help protect natural resources.

Kanarraville established the right-of-way for the pipeline with the BLM in 1969. In 1991, the town requested to move the pipeline as it made repairs, which resulted in an environmental assessment and approval by the BLM.

Spring Creek Canyon WSA includes a portion of the Hurricane Cliffs, an impressive west-facing escarpment that extends from north of Cedar City into northwestern Arizona. Two major canyons, Kanarra and Spring Creek, bisect the WSA with elevations ranging from 5,600 feet at the base of the cliffs to almost 7,900 feet on the ridge tops. Vegetation consists primarily of juniper, scrub oak, shrubs and grasses; however, along the riparian zone, sedges, rushes, cottonwoods and willows are prevalent.

The BLM manages more than 245 million acres of public land, the most of any Federal agency. This land, known as the National System of Public Lands, is primarily located in 12 Western states, including Alaska. The BLM also administers 700 million acres of sub-surface mineral estate throughout the nation. The BLM's mission is to sustain the health, diversity, and productivity of America’s public lands for the use and enjoyment of present and future generations. In Fiscal Year 2015, the BLM generated $4.1 billion in receipts from activities occurring on public lands.

-BLM-

Follow us on Twitter, Facebook, and Flickr @BLMUtah